Any of the classic valve games (half life, portal, and their sequels).
If auto shooters are your thing, vampire survivors is less than a small coffee.
Dead space (the remake) is $15.
Halo MCC is $10.
Titanfall 2 is $3.
The “new” tomb raider trilogy are all less than $5 each or get the bundle.
Alan wake is $5.
Prey is $3.
And Batman Arkham origins is $2.
Just a handful of good games for cheap. There’s many more out there.
Second this on Prey. Definitely is a love letter to immersive Sims like System Shock and Deus Ex. Hell there is a rumor that before Bethesda wanted to cover up the homicide of Prey 2, "Prey" 2017 was going to be called Neuroshock. Shame Arkane Austin was forced into live service shit with RedFall that they obviously had zero interest in and most original Arkane alumni left before the inevitable closure when they saw the writing on the wall.
Lot of great suggestions here- I grabbed MCC myself. Was kinda stunned that it's... I think five games ranging from absolutely era defining (at least for me) to solid games. For $10 I'm not sure that can be beat.
Keep talking and nobody explodes: incredible fun with friends, even better if the help has the documents physically printed, there's this magic that happens when you frantically search for the right page and try to keep calm
Titanfall 2 : worth it just for the campaign, I don't know about the state of multiplayer anymore (servers are back i think, no more need for a custom client), I last played it last year, people were understandably sweaty, movement and gameplay is unparalleled
Vermintide 2 : in its best state ever it seems, hours of fun and great challenges, interesting mods for qol and to add to the game's longevity, I dream of when Darktide will reach that point- Firewatch : nice story, beautiful art direction, ending is "controversial" in that it is kind of abrupt with little payoff, but the journey is great, imo a really good walking simulator
Metro Exodus : superb open world, great conclusion to the series, pays off even more if you read the book, day night cycle, each map feels handmade given the amount of details, best "skewmorphic" interface in games
Edit : fuck me i edited my comment and accidentally deleted the paragraph about Firewatch, tldr beautiful art direction
All excellent recommendations, and I'll triple down on the Vermintide 2 recommendation. One of the best bang for buck indi games out there. Darktide has similarly hit a state where I can recommend it as well finally, even if it took an embarrassingly long time to get to a Vermintide 2 level of playability. If you like the -tide games, give it a go.
Chorus - AA paranormal 3d spaceship combat game Cyber Hook - First person grapple hook platform racer Tangle Tower - Charming point and click detective game Patch Quest - Bullet hell roguelike Subsurface Circular - Robot murder mystery visual novel Yes Your Grace - Addictive story driven king resource management game They Bleed Pixels - Brutal 2d action platformer Devil Daggers - Single arena fps where you try to survive 500 seconds (and fail) Loop Hero Soundtrack - The game is pretty well known, but its soundtrack is amazing enough to buy or pirate even if you don't want to play it
I played through it again a couple months ago but when I went to check the DLC it looks like they haven't ever done more than 35% discount even though they came out in 2017 and 2019. Meanwhile the base game has done 90% off in the past (also the current price). Guess they figure if you like it enough to go looking for DLC you'll probably pay more.
The Binding of Isaac Rebirth Complete Bundle as well as its individual components are at a new all time low. The game is an absolute classic and IMO it's still the best at what it does. It's perfect on the Steam Deck too.
If you like the base game I highly recommend all the DLCs. Besides a ton of new content they also add many quality of life changes that make the game even more enjoyable.
Patient in that it came out way back at the beginning of twenty ‘ought twenty-four, cheap in that its fifty percent off; the new prince of Persia game is precisely correctly priced at twenty dollars and fun as hell.
It's my favorite game, but you really need to put in a ton of time to really get much out of it.
That said, EU5 is probably going to be announced sometime next year given the dev diaries we've had, which means this will probably get another steep discount (and maybe a Humble Bundle or something) and you may want to just get the next game after a year or so. It's a good price IMO, but I only recommend getting it if you'll play it in the next few months.
I rarely buy games even on sale (don't remember when I last bought a game, must not have been this year) but I'm definitely getting that one! That's a steal. Just... how do I set a reminder to buy it in the morning? (okay I added an event in my calendar, I think I'm good)
I wish there was something between World of Warships and Mr. Here's Literal Hours Worth of Interactive Presentations to Learn my Bespoke Mechanics. I haven't found the time, nor the strength, to have another go at it—I'm not sure if I ever will. Neat concept, though.
The Last Case of Benedict Fox being around 90% off was the only one with an acceptable price tag for me. Got it even cheaper via a bundle because I already owned Arise.
I thought the game was okay. Combat was a bit wonky and the story a bit hard to follow, but do to the length it may be worth it. Especially if your into occult magic/cthulu themes.
The Owlcat Pathfinder CRPGs aren't on the deep discounts list, but Kingmaker is 85% off ($2.99) and Wrath Of The Righteous is 70% off ($11.99). Both are solid games.
Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia. Sort of a recent fangame title, by today's standards, but if you're looking for some cool mid-to-late-1990s-inspired PC dungeoneering action (Shin Megami Tensei being a heavy inspiration), it's currently at ninety-two percent off.